Thaindian News

Zurich/London, May 27 (IANS) Asian Footbal Confederation (AFC) president Mohammad Bin Hammam, accused of bribery, has alleged that his opponent, FIFA president Sepp Blatter, should be investigated as the veteran Swiss administrator approved the alleged payments.

Bin Hammam, who is challenging Blatter in the June 1 presidential elections, said in a statement that Blatter was informed about the payments made to officials of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) but did not oppose it.

“I am not at all afraid to answer any questions that the Ethics Committee may have for me at the hearing next Sunday. As long as the Committee guarantees a fair process, I have nothing to fear,” he said.

Bin Hammam, who is a FIFA executive committee member, along with FIFA vice president Jack Warner and Caribbean Football Union (CFU) officials Debbie Minguell and Jason Sylvester, will appear Sunday before the FIFA Ethics Committee.

FIFA took the swift decision on a complaint of executive committee member Chuck Blazer, who reported an incident of bribery to secretary general Jerôme Valcke over possible violations of the FIFA Code of Ethics allegedly committed by named officials.

Bin Hammam, a Qatari, in a letter to FIFA secretary-general Jerôme Valcke requested that FIFA Code and Ethics Committee should also investigate Blatter.

“It is no coincidence that these allegations have been made only a few days before the 61st FIFA Congress, at which the new FIFA president will be elected. The timing of the accusations so close to the election of FIFA president suggests that they are part of a plan to damage Mr. Bin Hammam and force him to withdraw as a candidate for the FIFA presidency,” the AFC said in a statement.

Amid claims and counter-claims, London daily The Guardian revealed further details of the allegations contained in the dossier compiled by the US attorney John Collins at the behest of Blazer, the Concacaf secretary general.

The daily reported that the file, which contains signed affidavits from officials approached at a specially convened meeting of the Caribbean Football Union and offered payments of up to $40,000 from Bin Hammam, is believed to allege the “football development” cash was proffered in private briefings with the 25 attendees.

Blatter, however, insisted that he had no knowledge of the dossier or the allegations.

“To now assume that the present ordeal of my opponent were to fill me with some sort of perverse satisfaction or that this entire matter was somehow masterminded by me is ludicrous and completely reprehensible,” Blatter was quoted as saying by InsideWorldFootball website.

“Fifa does not need a revolution. What Fifa needs is iron clad laws that are implemented forcefully …When a Swiss farmer’s neighbour has a cow while he has none, the less fortunate farmer will work twice as hard so that one day he can buy a cow as well,” he said.

“When another farmer, elsewhere, on an island, say, has no cow but his neighbour does, that farmer will kill the neighbour’s cow out of sheer malice. I’d rather be a Swiss farmer, like it or not,” he added.